There were one or two ads this year that I had already come across on the internet and one or two that I found problematic, particularly in terms of gender issues. Still, most of them were excellent. A good chunk of the award winners can be watched in this playlist.

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Comrade Kim Goes Flying was possibly the most charming piece of Communist propaganda ever. Seriously. Western-financed but shot entirely in North Korea, this film shows a good-natured workers paradise where even the coal miners are rosy-cheeked and excited about their work. (I found myself wistfully thinking, "If only this were true.")

The film centers around the eponymous Kim, a pretty and agile young coal miner with dreams of joining the circus as a trapeze artist. Her work sends her to Pyongyang were hijinks ensue and her work comrades (including her avuncular boss) help her to make her dreams come true. Along the way, she also has a classic romantic comedy "feuding their way into love" match-up with the circus' star performer.

Cheesy and silly and fun, it was reminiscent of classic Hollywood musicals and screwball comedies. North Korea in Comrade Kim is candy-colored and entirely good-natured. The movie isn't deep and the herione has pretty much everyone routing for her, but the lack of reality and weight make it is an escapist delight, much like cotton-candy.

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So, Dear Mr. Watterson was the second and possibly the most consistently delightful of our Sunday films. It was basically a love letter to Bill Watterson and Calvin and Hobbes, with a variety of folks (including a lot of comic creators) talking about their experiences with the comic strip, and the influence that it had on their lives.

The documentary was beautifully filmed and well-edited. Unsurprisingly, Watterson himself did not make an appearance in the film, but the strips themselves were featured, along with footage of Chagrin Falls, OH, Watterson's home town and the basis for the landscape of the strips.

One of the main ideas of the film is that, even thought the strip ran for ten years and then ended almost twenty years ago, children today can still be found reading and enjoying the collected Calvin and Hobbes. The filmaker, Joel Allen Schroeder, posits that some of the credit for this may be due to the fact that Watterson never agreed to licensing of the characters, which prevented over-saturation and allowed the strips to stand on their own, rather than getting lost in the noise of plushes and coffee mugs.

Taking this into consideration, I started reading the comic to my 6-year-old nephew, via comics.com. While he does need some things explained to him, he really, really loves them and specifically asks me to read them to him. (We usually cover about a month in a sitting.) At some point, I will likely get him on of the collection books, so that he can read them on his own. However, for now I enjoy the time together, sharing the comic I remember from my childhood. (He is also very much like Calvin, in looks, age, and personality, and has his own ever-present stuffed companion animal in the form of Bucky Badger.)

I was 9 was the strip debuted and at the start of college when it concluded. I'm glad that it can be a part of his childhood, too. (It really hold up well. Only a very few things are dated, mostly having to do with telephones.) I am grateful for having been able to watch this film, without which, it might have taken me much longer to decide to do this.

The cast seemed like it was full of vaguely familiar faces, yet on perusal I discovered that Wiley Wiggins was the only actual familiar face.

Overall, I really loved this movie. It was awkward and hilarious and both surreal and very real. That it, I really loved it until the last twenty minutes or so, at which point it felt like it totally went off the rails. As has been my opinion on a number of other films, I think a bit more editing throughout would have made for a much stronger film. There were a few scenes that went on too long, or could have been eliminated entirely. Yet, even with it's flaws, I was happy to have seen it, and might watch it again if the opportunity came around. (I wouldn't necessarily seek it out.)

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"Everybody" knows that a more symmetrical face is more attractive, right?

Julian Wolkenstein created a series of carefully neutral portraits, which he then made into two photos each, using the mirror half of each side to complete the face. The results show just how uneven even the most "symmetrical" of face really is, and how odd and off-putting true symmetry can be in a face.

As a continuing project, people are invited to take phone or webcam photos of themselves, mirror them lie Wolkenstein did, and submit the results to echoism. The results are both delightful and bizarre.

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Every spring, an interactive installation takes over a high-traffic area in Montréal's Quartier des spectacles and sets a collective ritual. The installation offers a fresh look at the idea of cooperation, the notion that we can achieve more together than separately.

The result is a giant instrument made of 21 musical swings; each swing in motion triggers different notes, all the swings together compose a piece, but some sounds only emerge from cooperation.

This is truly lovely. I would like to see this someday, and getting back to Montreal is already on my life list. I think I would definitely want to try to get there while this is up some spring.

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If I hadn't hurt my ankle, I'd have been at my lesson until about 8. It is possible that my bike still would have had trouble on the way home, only this time it would have been after dark, and neither my friend nor the bike shop would have been available to help me out. (I also wouldn't have found that quarter.) It's all in how you look at things.

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After reading Tara Austen Weaver's account, on Tea & Cookies, of her walk through the labyrinth on Lummi Island and the small pile of little things (stones and shells, mostly) that she found there, I started thinking of a similar walk I took a couple of years ago.

In early fall of 2010, my boyfriend and I bicycled out to Governor's Island, on the northern edge of Lake Mendota. We spent a golden afternoon wandering around the edge of the island, and exploring the small trails through the little woods. In one shaded area, I found a small shrine or altar. It was very crude, made of things that one would find on hand there in the woods, but it was still quite recognizable. Sitting on top were a number of small objects, including several dollar coins.

I didn't take any photos, because by that point the late afternoon light was too dim under the cover of the trees, though I wish I could have. I don't know who made the altar, nor for what specific purpose. I certainly didn't touch the objects on the altar, particularly the coins. I figured that, sooner or later, someone would come along, disturb the altar and pocket the coins. But I was not going to be that person.

It isn't uncommon to see roadside shrines: crosses, flowers, maybe balloons or stuffed animals, marking the scene of a fatal accident. It is also pretty common to come across places like the Dickeyville Grotto, which are built with genuine love and respect, but are also pretty public. Something like this, in such a quiet place, stumbled-upon, rather than displayed, seems unique. Yet there are probably just as many quiet, out-of-the-way little altars and shrines as there are in full view. You just have to be there to find them.

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This recipe from Forgiving Martha caught my eye on Pinterest about a month ago, and I finally got around to trying it. The verdict is yum.

The pudding is very simple and very rich. Jess' recipe yields two servings, and you will find that a serving is quite filling. This isn't low calorie (my calculations say that it is about 282 per serving) but it is vegan, if you are looking for that.

The next time I make this, I think I will substitute honey for the agave nectar. I like honey much better. It will alter the flavor profile a bit, but it would be interesting to try.

Another thing I will do differently is to blend it in a smaller jar, or use an immersion blender. The small quantity of pudding didn't work very well in my full, large blender. I had to keep stopping the motor and stirring with a spatula to get the mixture back into the blades. In the end, I left some of the avocado unblended, so there were tiny chunks of green floating throughout the creamy brown chocolate. I was ok with this, but I'm sure that other people might find it less than appetizing if I were sharing this.

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Inspired, in part, by Maggie Mason, of Might Girl I started my own Life List back in November. I think it is time to post it, and see what I have done so far (completed items will be crossed out).

• Own my own home
• Take voice lessons
• Swim at a beach with warm, crystal clear ocean water
• Take a train trip coast to coast (and back?)
• Own a dog (or two?)
• Revisit NYC
• Visit San Francisco
• Visit Seattle
• Visit New Orleans
• Visit Savannah• Pass the Madison Parks and Beaches swim test and get out to the diving platform at B.B. Clarke Beach
• Go canoe camping on the Wisconsin River• Get belay certified at Boulders
• Throw an event/party for at least 100 people
• Have my art for sale in a brick and mortar business
• Take part in (and finish) a bike ride of at least 100 miles
• Have an entire outfit that is tailor made for me
• Learn how to go underwater without having to plug my nose
• Take the car ferry across Lake Michigan
• Spend some time in Door County
• Spend some time in the Apostle Islands
• Learn to ballroom dance without tripping over my own feet
• Learn to contra dance without tripping over my own feet
• Healthy 125
• Learn to use a chef's knife like a pro
• Revisit Cape Breton
• Revisit Montreal
• Set foot in every continent (except maybe Antarctica...no way)
• Go to a session and play at least 50% of the songs
• Busk
• Stay with friends at Camp Lake Resort (Fairyland!) for at least a long weekend
• Raise chickens
• Go to grad school
• Act in a play• Get my CPR and First Aid re-certification
• Go to Comic-Con with my brother• Take the Union sailing course
• Learn to whistle
• Update my blog more regularly
• Update the look and feel of my blog

Also, while I haven't yet learned to use a chef's knife like a pro, I did take an hour-long class on it through the Willy St. Co-op, and have been practicing the techniques we were shown. Practice is the thing.

The last two items currently on that list are things I just added today, but I think they are important. I used to blog on a daily basis, and then things got in the way. Not important things. Just things. I'd like to get back to it. I also need to update the design and the back-end, because the comment spam is getting redonkulous.

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I really love passenger trains. I love big cross-country trains, commuter rail, and urban trains. I have a particular fondness for traveling via subway, when I'm in a city that has one. So I was grimly fascinated by A Short History of Death on the New York City Subway, which highlights a little over a century of underground tragedies in the MTA.

The loss of life is sad, especially when it could have been prevented. At the same time, it is morbidly interesting. And not all of the stories end in death:

1965
Power Failure

In November 1965, 800,000 people were stranded for six hours in dark subway tunnels. Transit police walked people out along the tracks while warming them with emergency blankets. There are no recorded deaths, but how freaky would that be?

I'm also fond of the little Flash-animated train that makes its way down the page as you scroll.

One worry I had going into the screening was that, as can often be the case with documentaries of this kind, at least some of the subject would be the cringe-inducing type of obsessive, which I find uncomfortable to watch. This was not the case. To be sure, all of the Tetris players had a degree of obsessiveness, which is required to be really good at any skill. You cannot achieve mastery without practice, and you won't get that much practice without at least a little obsession.

But beyond that, all of main folk getting screen time were, for the most part, personable and people with whom I'd happily hang out. I'm not a computer gamer, but they were still my kind of folks. None of them came off as "poorly-socialized gamer geek" or "crazy obsessive". It certainly helped that the filmmaker was not some outsider looking in, but someone who had a love and understanding of the subject.

As a film, it told it's story in a fun and compelling way, and it held my attention and interest for the full time. I'm usually pretty tired by the last film of the weekend, but I was not afflicted by drooping eyes and a nodding head. I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to other children of the 80's who came of age with Super Nintendo.

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Look into that face, those eyes, and tell me that it is "just" and animal. James Mollison has taken portrait photographs of 40 different apes, of a variety of species, from Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. Each one shows a different personality, a different intelligence. Assembled together, the effect is rather striking.

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I don't know exactly why, but I find this video strangely mesmerizing.

It could be because I am lousy at ironing and avoid it whenever I can. It could be the blueish lighting, the steady camera angles, and the lack of soundtrack beyond the quiet, incidental noise of the activity. But seriously, watch that man iron and tell me you wouldn't want to wear that shirt. (Or maybe not *that* shirt, but it's equivalent in your size and style.) Even mundane chores can be beautiful when practiced with skill.

My. God. I have never, in all my 36 years on this earth, undertaken a project even half so grand as what these kids did over the course of their teenage years. Certainly never did anything like it when I was actually a teen. The movie was a love letter to Raiders of the Lost Ark and a love letter to cinema. I was amazed at what they were able to pull off, and was rather bummed that we weren't able to stay for the Q&A after the film.

If you grew up on Indiana Jones and you get a chance to see this film, you should not pass up the opportunity.

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First off, if you ever have the opportunity to try the cheesy pub fries at Laz Bistro and Bar in Stoughton, WI, do not let the moment pass you by. Those are some amazing, tasty chips. However, unless you plan on making a meal of nothing but them, plan to split them with at least one friend. While it may be found in the "tapas" section of the menu, there was nothing "small" about this plate.

Secondly, the Stoughon Opera House is remarkable beautiful venue, both in terms of looks and in sound quality. Even though it was a bit of a drive to get there, I will gladly go again. (And now I am extra sad that the Carolina Chocolate Drops show there last fall sold out before I got tickets. It must have been an astonishing show in that space.)

Finally, even with a hint of laryngitis roughening up her voice, Dar Williams remains as luminous and buoyant as ever. It was an intimate show, just Dar with her guitar and a piano accompanist on some songs. The last few times I'd seen her she had a band along. As nice as the bands were, I definitely prefer her solo (or almost solo) sound. I have always been fond of the way she interacts with the audience and introduces the songs with little stories. It's that kind of thing that gets me to live shows.

She also looked fantastic, and gave me a great idea for what to do with my hair when it gets a bit longer. I think I've always had a tiny girl-crush on her unassuming hippy-goddess rockstar style. She never goes over to top in any direction, but nails it with confidence. Considering her severe stage fright in her early career, it really inspires me.

It was a great night.

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Japan's Wrecking Crew Orchestra performs an amazing routine with the help of a darkened stage and costuming that features electroluminescent wire. It's like watching something from a video game or a sci-fi film.

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Not practical. Not practical at all. And yet, how fun would it be to have a lovely wall display of your CSA bounty? Perhaps if you were also making sure to eat what you have very regularly. After all, refrigeration is a fairly new concept.

Jihyun Ryou doesn't seem to actually be trying to replace the fridge, so much as to get us to think about the role of technology in our lives, and how we interact with the world around us through that technology. In what ways does it help us, and in what ways does it keep us from connecting with that world.

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I sing in a large chorus (over 150 people) that performs large works for chorus and orchestra. Over the years, we've sung a number of Requiems. I've developed a fondness for the Dies Irae movements.

Tonight I was thinking about the Dies Irae from the Benjamin Britten War Requiem:

It is anything but comic, yet it reminded me of the type of scene that would appear in a 1930's comedy, like the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, when characters are sneaking around at night, tiptoeing through the dark, only to have their stealth interrupted by something crashing down.

In this Dies Irae, the chorus is tiptoeing up to Judgement Day, only to have all that wrath come crashing down on them in spite of their best efforts. Voices, brass, and percussion all explode into fortissimo, and nothing is going to stop it.

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Dear Photograph is a charming photoblog that puts a cool spin on the "rephotographing" trend. Rather than just recreating an old photograph, "Dear Photograph" inserts the old photograph into the scene as it is today, lining up the shot as closely as possible, along with a bit of commentary (in the form of an apostrophe to the photo itself). So far, I am finding it utterly charming.

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Yarn bombing, knitted graffiti, crafty tagging... Maybe you've heard of it. Maybe you've seen it in the wild. This street art has been around for at least a decade (possibly earlier) and is now getting notice in The New York Times. The article is brief, but very interesting and informative.

I found three things to be particularly worthy of note. First was the contrast between the male dominance of traditional graffiti and street art, versus the traditional feminine orientation of the yarn-based work.

Next was the degree of "I'm better than that because I've been in galleries" attitude from one of the knitters profiled:

Olek, whose work has been shown in museums and galleries worldwide, considers yarn bombing to be the trite work of amateurs and exhibitionists.

"Lots of people have aunts or grandmas who paint," she said. "Do you want to see that work in the galleries? No. The street is an extension of the gallery. Not everyone's work deserves to be in public."

Deliciously snobby, neh?

Finally (and not entirely surprising) was the fact that was started out as DIY, crafty, underground, etc has been co-opted by a number of Fortune 500 companies for advertising purposes. Certainly not the first time for such a thing.

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Today (ETA: yesterday, at this point), I am taking part in an Edgewood College writing retreat at Painted Forest in Valton, WI. There is no internet here, but my plan is to prep a series of entries, to be posted later.

Our group drove over from Madison a little after 8. The drive through the Driftless Region was absolutely gorgeous. I am in love with the rolling hills and winding roads in this area. The "400" state bike trail runs near here, and I think I may wish to take a ride on it at some point this season.

Painted Forest is kind of a two-part location. The main activity of the retreat is taking place in the Art Studio and Study Center, which was built in 2004. I am tucked away in the sleeping loft, which is cozy and quiet and warm. Perfect!

Painted Forest proper is an old meeting hall for the Modern Woodmen of America from the 1890s. On the outside, it is just a plain, white wooden building. But on the inside, it is covered from floor to ceiling by murals painted by Ernst Hüpeden, a German immigrant who taught himself to paint while wrongfully imprisoned. The murals are weird and wonderful, full of symbolism and scenes of the organizations initiation rituals. My favorite parts were the areas were the murals move from wall to ceiling, with the tops of trees silhouetted against a blue sky, dotted with friendly white clouds.

It is a great location to do some work, without the distraction of the rest of the internet. (Though I was careful to make sure I opened a number of new tabs last night, so that I could make use of the internet in a slightly more static way.)

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So, I need to talk about Dane 101'sFireBall, especially since it happened at the end of January. It took a while to get all the photos together, and frankly, I'm still sifting. But I do have enough to share.

It was an amazing spectacle. So many beautiful costumes. So many dark and wonderful costumes. The performances on the stage were entrancing.

Since I am much better with images than with words, I will follow with three slideshows of my photos from that night. Enjoy!

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So, it only took me most of a month to get my photos edited. Pretty soon I'll try to get a write-up of the event, but so much of it defied description. In the meantime, a picture is worth a thousand words...

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I swear, I will find the time to get the Gallery Night photos up. In the meantime, I have a wonderful thing for you.

In almost every picture #7, collected and edited by Erik Kessels and Joep Eljkens has an amazing series of photos taken from the perspective of a shooting gallery. From age 16 in 1936 to the present day, Ria van Dijk has been going yearly to the shooting gallery at the fair, where he picture is automatically taken when she hits the target. (There is a gap in the photos during the war years.)

The series is remarkable as we watch her get older, fashions change, and the photography go from sepia to polaroid. All the while, her arms are up, her left eye is closed, and she bears a look of steady concentration and pride. It really is a wonderful thing, and I highly recommend checking it out.

The Salvage Art Show will be juried by professional artists. Interested artists will submit three examples of their work, which will be evaluated on such elements as originality, design, composition, subject matter, choice of materials, and skill of execution. Submissions to the jury will be due by May 22. Artists will be notified of their status during the week of June 1.

The one minute long My Friend, Larry was extremely strange. However, the brevity helped it, for it was over before it could become annoying.

I'm not normally a fan of experimental, but You Will Like This worked. It was funny and peculiar and just this side of unsettling. The fact that it was 4 minutes also helped. Like My Friend, Larry, the joke would have worn very thin had it continued much longer. In fact, a minute less might have made it stronger.

I can honestly say that I barely remember seeing Floatin', a 1 minute stop-motion animation, beyond the fact that it was cute. It just didn't register in comparison. Perhaps if I'd taken notes, but I don't do that.

The two other animations, Subprime and Mariza were more memorable. Both were digital. Subprime was 3 minutes of ever evolving and collapsing houses; Legos meets the Sims meets something new. Mariza was 5 minutes of a fisherman, a dancing donkey, and a battle of wills.

Sinkhole actually was a little bit unsettling. Shot in Centralia, PA, the coal mining town that has be abandoned for years due to a long-burning coal fire in the seam below the town. To say too much would spoil it (if you ever get an opportunity to see it), but I can say that things don't go as expected for the coal company broker how has come to try to buy out the remaining landowner.

I was a little uncertain at the start of Sign of the Times. I didn't know how much of loud, jerky guy being loud and jerky I could handle, regardless of how funny it was. Fortunately, the tale of the stolen morning papers proved to have more going on than just that. It was funny and kind of sweet.

Chili & Cheese: A Condimental Rift was, to borrow a phrase Meg Hamel used to describe one of the other films, a hoot. Good acting, great cinematography. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, though I wasn't always sure of where it was going.

Carjacked was funny in a totally bizarre, barely making sense kind of way. For a project by high school students, it was very well done. The film blurb describes it as "over-the-top" and I have to agree. Kind of funny, very weird.

Only one film to go in my Film Fest Roundup.

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For our first show on Saturday, our group was bigger (M, E, D and I) and the venue was bigger (Orpheum, Main Stage). All appropriate for A Matter of Size, a feature-length narrative about Israeli sumo wrestlers.

Our hero is Herzl (Itzik Cohen), who loses his job as a salad-bar chef because customers complain about his size. He had joined a diet group, but they don't tolerate his weight increases and boot him out. He finds work washing dishes at a Japanese restaurant, where they've tuned in the sumo wrestling match on their satellite TV behind the bar. In this competitive sport, being large brings honor and respect. It's what Herzl craves, and would be good for his buddies, too, for they are all generously sized and have too much free time. Herzl convinces the restaurant's owner, Kitano, to train them in the venerable sport of sumo.

The combination of gentle humor and real conflict made for a funny yet powerful story. It did not rely entirely on slapstick or mockery, as could so often be the case with a plot such as this. It also deals quite deftly with the relationships the men have with each other and with their loved ones. Herzl's mother and his new girlfriend are also characters instead of caricatures.

We all enjoyed the show quite a bit, and afterwards, 3 of us felt compelled to get gyros for lunch, thanks to Gidi's shawarma. (It was that or Japanese--right across the street--but we didn't have too much time before the next show.) Sitting patio in front of Parthenon and watching people walk by in the sunshine, we knew we were off to a good start.

Sunday afternoon, I drove down to Crystal Lake, IL where I parked my car and hopped the Metra the rest of the way to Chicago. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love riding trains?) There was a rehearsal/costume parade for all the volunteers at Lifeline's space from 3:00 to about 6:00. While there, I got a rough preview of what the set is going to look like, and I must say, I'm impressed.

Following the rehearsal, I took the CTA towards Grant Park, to find the friend I was going to stay with for the night. I was already regretting that I decided that my combat boots were too bulky to carry and that I couldn't fit a spare pair of shoes in my pack. Ow.

One delicious Thai dinner later and both of us were pretty much ready to crash for the night.

I had to work on Monday, but had gotten clearance to do so remotely. (Have I mentioned how weird it is to use my PC desktop from a Mac? Always have to remember to avoid keyboard commands.) This made it a day of wi-fi surfing via three different coffeeshops. And more walking. Oh, the walking. (Did I mention those damn boots?)

The day was gorgeous, and many picturesque opportunities presented themselves, but I weighed the originality of any of the possible photos vs. the amount of stuff I was lugging around with me and decided that none of them were worth the effort. Sometime, I'll make a trip just for photos.

Evening came and it was time to ascend to the 4th floor of the Chicago Cultural Center and get ready for the event. Luckily, I did have time to run around and take some quick photos of some of the people and the place. There were a number of people and things that I never got a chance to capture on film, and the overall quality of what I shot was very snapshotty, but it did make bringing the Canon worthwhile.

The event ran from 6:30 to 10 PM, but it rather flew by. There were some scripted elements, including a bit of stage fighting ("bodyguard auditions"). There were performances by The Space/Movement Project, The Afterlife, Read My Hips, Pyrotechniq, The Tubeway Rats, and The Beat. A couple of fortune tellers, a storyteller, and a caricaturist plied their trades while "Captain Destiny" encouraged folks to spin the "Wheel of Destiny" to win prizes. Meanwhile, the denizens of the Floating Market interacted with the patrons and exhorted them to bid on silent auction items. Everyone ate, drank, and were quite merry.

And then the Market was over and it was time to go home. At which point I discovered that I'd lost my socks somewhere. This was a bummer, as they were a pair of a really nice wool overknees. Alas! Fortunately, I still had the socks I'd worn in character, so I didn't have to go sockless in my boots. (Did I mention those boots?) Unfortunately, looking for them took time I didn't have, and I suddenly had 14 minutes to walk about a mile...at least a 17 minute trek, according to Google maps. Fortunately, a couple of fellow Denizens were leaving as I was and offered me a ride to the station. Hurray! I made the train just in time.

The ride to Crystal Lake was pleasant. The drive to Madison was a little less so, given that it was after midnight by the time I started driving. I got through with McDonald's coffee and BBC World News on NPR, plus a lot of opening windows and sitting forward. Also, my "check engine" light came on, which could be meaningless but gave an edge of stress to the proceedings. I can haz Madison-Chicago trane, plz? Thx.

All in all, it was a tiring journey, but well worth it. I can hardly wait to see the actual show when it opens.

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The Wisconsin Film Festival started last night (I know! On a Wednesday this year!) and I am totally giddy. My first film isn't until tonight (though I did watch a movie last night while sorting clothes) and I can hardly wait.

My line-up for this year:

The Ghost Player

Slightly Unsettling Spanish Shorts

For the Love of Movies: Film Criticism

Unforgettable

A Matter of Size

Shorts: Saturday Afternoon@ Monona Terrace

Baraboo

I shall be writing them up, though it usually takes a bit of time to get through all of them.

Also, on Sunday I will be travelling down to Chicago to take part in the Lifeline Theater benefit, which is to say, being a part of the Floating Market. Awesome, neh? I'll be reporting on that, too.

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Looking at the photos of Dances of Vice: Wonderland in Spring Ball in New York, I am in awe of the costumes and in envy of Gabi Porter's fantastic event photography. It makes me wanna get my ass in gear and improve my skills...which is a good thing. Beautifully lit!

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Apparently, at approximately 5:00am EST, Thursday December 31 2009, a treasury list that I made was featured on the Etsy front page. (It was about 5 hours later that one of my own items made the front page for the first time.) Check it out!

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Nominations for the 2010 Hugo Awards close next Sunday. As I am still eligible to nominate (having been to WorldCon last year), I have been giving it some thought. I can nominate up to five in each catagory.

Best Novel, current thoughts are:The Mystery of Grace by Charles de LintThe Magicians by Lev GrossmanThe City & The City by China MiévilleLeviathan by Scott WesterfeldBoneshaker by Cherie Priest

Best Novella, Best Novelette...dunno. I don't think I read any new ones from 2009.

Best Short Story is also a dunno, as I can't quite remember which that I read where new in 2009. I'll have to look it up.
ETA:
I'm liking K. Tempest Bradford's "Élan Vital"

Best Related Work is a category that I know very little about.

Best Graphic Story is going to require more thought, and I'd be happy to take recommendations. (Any science fiction or fantasy story told in graphic form appearing for the first time in 2009.)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:CoralineStar TrekMoon

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
"Epitaph One," Dollhouse

Best Editor, Short Form; Best Editor, Long Form; Best Professional Artist...dunno. I'll have to think on it.

Best Semiprozine
I believe Shadow Unit qualifies.

Best Fanzine, Best Fan Writer, Best Fan Artist, John W. Campbell Award...dunno.

I'd welcome any thoughts and input on categories that are blank or incomplete.

I first came across her work at last spring's Odyssey Con art show, and my first thought was, "I know these creatures!" They were very much like the little beings, good and bad, that scampered around my imagination as a child. (See also.)

I picked up one of her cards for future reference, at which point it did that thing that business cards like to do to me: it went into hiding for a while. I rediscovered it last night, and was reminded to check the website, and hence, this blog entry.

Coincidentally, she is also on the WisCon 34 Art Show committee. (Or perhaps she *is* the art show committee, as these things sometimes go.)

Anyway, her work is delightfully creepy, scarily cute, and terrifyingly toothy. Go check it out.

This was totally my place, back in my actual Irving Place days. Right across the street, which made it perfect for transforming pocket change into candy. I specifically remember these wonderful pink (strawberry) taffy lollipops that they had at the register for a while. $0.05 each, and totally wonderful. I have never found anything just like them since, so they have become legendary in my memory. (Along with the veggie sub from the long-defunct, Mad Town Subs.)

They were also the perfect place for that gallon of milk when we ran out right before dinner, and for the Sunday Journal. I also remember them having really excellent elephant ears in the bakery case.

Speaking of the old hood, one of these days I need to get over there and stop at Comet Cafe, which used to be a Chinese restaurant (Edie's? Eddie's? something like that) when I knew it. (Right next to the Constant Reader Bookshop, whose painted sign I once thought said "Out of Paint" and which I found puzzling, until I became a better reader and could distinguish print from paint.)

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I was at the Dig and Saves today and brought home a bunch of new things. However, as new things come in to my life, I need to make room. I have a collection of wonderful vintage gloves, which I cannot resist buying when I find them...only none of them has a mate. Some of these made great costume pieces for a LARP, but while I would love to find a project in which to put them to use, I have not yet. So, I offer them up to the world. Someone else might have an idea for them.

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This is what my nephew said when asked what he wanted for a birthday cake this year. (He turned 3 in January.) My sister and I were very amused at this. At the last minute, he changed his mind and wanted a happy snowman. It was excellent, just the same.

Cake making/frosting is a skill I am still learning, but it is fun to practice.

Step one: trim the cakes.

I had two round chocolates and a round of lemon (which turned out very thin, hence the stacking.) Trimming cakes = yummy snack time!

Another view of the trimmed cakes.

Step two: apply crumb coat.

The cakes were just from store-bought mixes, but the frosting was homemade. I must admit, frosting is so easy to make that I doubt I'll buy it again. So much tastier, too. Plus, I'll take butter over partially hydrogenated whatever oil any day, thanks.

Step three: spread the rest of the frosting in a nice, thick layer, joining the edges of the cake together.

Another nice thing about homemade frosting: I had just the right amount for the cake, without running out *or* having gobs and gobs of extra.

When the birthday boy saw the cake, his first comment was "Snowmen don't have pretzels for arms," since he is will aware that their arms are made of sticks. He is quite the connoisseur of "Frosties." I assured him that it was ok, since these were pretend sticks for a pretend snowman. He seemed mollified at that.

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Yesterday afternoon, I dropped in to the High Noon Saloon to check out the The Valentine's Day Craftacular. It was the earliest in the day I have ever been there, that is for sure. From the moment I walked in, I looked around and thought, "This is pretty neat." The layout and the bustle of activity put me in mind of the actual Floating Market in the BBC version of Neverwhere (from which my shop draws it's name and inspiration).

I counted about nineteen vendors. Five of them were upstairs, which is where I started.

First up was Prettifications by Cynthia a store I'd actually stumbled across in the fall while looking for something to wear to a wedding with my little black dress. I didn't buy anything at the time, but it did add a piece of hers to my favorites list. (I still covet it...may buy it yet if no one snaps it up before me.)

Next was HaleyStudio, who had some gorgeous handspun yarn and some truly lovely fabric pocketbook-type bags.

Gub Factory's cellphone holders and coffee cup cozies were neat, but the stuffed creatures were the highlight of their table.

At this point, the upstairs was getting crowded, so I went downstairs to look around for a little while.

DaintyDaisies, of Oshkosh had a rack of colorful fabric totes and a table overflowing with cheerful jewelry and hair accessories.

Fat Cat Beads' brick and mortar store is tucked away on Thierer Rd, but the Craftacular display was right at the corner of the bar. Tell me, do you not want one of these earring trees? Yeah, I thought so. Me, too.

orangyporangy was tucked in at the edge of stage right, just by the stairs. So, I am not allowed to buy myself any new skirts until spring, but my resolve wavered a bit at the sight of what have to be the happiest skirts in the world.

Bernie'sGirl had skirts in the deconstructed/reconstructed/recycled style that I dig (but usually can only get away with wearing while LARPing), along with candylike "Word Drop" rings.

The last vendor I checked out before heading back upstairs was Whimsy House: "goodness fashioned from vintage buttons & felted wool." Picture a rainy afternoon spent rummaging around in your grandmother's attic and making crafts. (Well, someone's grandmother, at least.) Now picture those crafts done with exquisite taste and skill. Yup, it's kind of like that.

Last, but certainly not least, was Sommer with an O who had beautiful photos, an interesting presentation, and great boots.

While I wasn't able to buy anything, it was great to see so many local crafters having a good day. The general consensus was that it was a fantastic turn out for a February, and that sales had been very good. I was happy to be there, and maybe someday will return as a vendor myself. For now, though, I've just stocked up my mental wish list.